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Article TO THE PROPRIETOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. Page 1 of 1 Article THE HERMIT'S PRAYER. Page 1 of 1
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To The Proprietor Of The Freemasons' Magazine.
TO THE PROPRIETOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE .
DEAR BROTHER , THE following composition was given to me at the Hague some years ago by a Dutch merchant who had resided at Canton ; and it is at your service if you think it worth insertion . Hampton Court . Palace , I am , & c . & c . August 8 , 1794 . THOMAS DUNCKERLEY .
The Hermit's Prayer.
THE HERMIT'S PRAYER .
O FIRST Mover ! O Cause of Causes ! O thou Omnipotent , Omniscient , Incomprehensible Being , whom men call God . If Thou regardest the thoughts , the words , or the actions of men ; if it be not criminal in so Wretched an animal even to prostrate himself before thee , and if the most ardent prayer that my heart can form or my tongue can utter be not an affront to thee , hear me , O Almighty
Being 1 and have mercy , have mercy , have mercy upon me . I find myself placed by thy providence on a speck of the universe , where I daily see many of my oWn species who value themselves upon what they call reason , paying such a sort of Worship to thee as , in my humble opinion , is altogether unworthy of thee ; and I am told by some of these that I ought to believe such things concerning thee , which I cannot , 1 dare not , give my assent to . If Thou regardest the thoughts of men ' s-hearts , Thou seest , Thou knowest , O Almighty Being , that tlie reason why I neither dare nor can believe such things
as men report of thee is , because most of these things appear to me nothing else but the invention of human pride , and to be utterly unworthy of thy goodness , thy wisdom , and infinite perfection . If I durst I would thus make my most humble petition to Thee , that if any of my actions can either please or displease Thee , Thou wouldst vouchsafe to show me clearly what is really and truly thy will . But what am I that I should presume to make such a request to Thee ?
. Plow dare I" either hope or ask to be thus hi ghly favoured above the rest of mankind ? I will endeavour to rest contented in that state of ¦ doubts , of darkness , and of ignorance , wherein it hath pleased Thee to place that species to which I belong . Since I cannot distinguish real good from evil , and am even ignorant of what things are most proper for meI dare not presume-to make any particular request to
, Thee . All I have the confidence to do , is thus to prostrate myself before Thee ; to acknowledge thy power , admire thy wisdom , and most cheerfully submit myself to thy Almighty will , whatever it be , O Great Jehovah I
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Proprietor Of The Freemasons' Magazine.
TO THE PROPRIETOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE .
DEAR BROTHER , THE following composition was given to me at the Hague some years ago by a Dutch merchant who had resided at Canton ; and it is at your service if you think it worth insertion . Hampton Court . Palace , I am , & c . & c . August 8 , 1794 . THOMAS DUNCKERLEY .
The Hermit's Prayer.
THE HERMIT'S PRAYER .
O FIRST Mover ! O Cause of Causes ! O thou Omnipotent , Omniscient , Incomprehensible Being , whom men call God . If Thou regardest the thoughts , the words , or the actions of men ; if it be not criminal in so Wretched an animal even to prostrate himself before thee , and if the most ardent prayer that my heart can form or my tongue can utter be not an affront to thee , hear me , O Almighty
Being 1 and have mercy , have mercy , have mercy upon me . I find myself placed by thy providence on a speck of the universe , where I daily see many of my oWn species who value themselves upon what they call reason , paying such a sort of Worship to thee as , in my humble opinion , is altogether unworthy of thee ; and I am told by some of these that I ought to believe such things concerning thee , which I cannot , 1 dare not , give my assent to . If Thou regardest the thoughts of men ' s-hearts , Thou seest , Thou knowest , O Almighty Being , that tlie reason why I neither dare nor can believe such things
as men report of thee is , because most of these things appear to me nothing else but the invention of human pride , and to be utterly unworthy of thy goodness , thy wisdom , and infinite perfection . If I durst I would thus make my most humble petition to Thee , that if any of my actions can either please or displease Thee , Thou wouldst vouchsafe to show me clearly what is really and truly thy will . But what am I that I should presume to make such a request to Thee ?
. Plow dare I" either hope or ask to be thus hi ghly favoured above the rest of mankind ? I will endeavour to rest contented in that state of ¦ doubts , of darkness , and of ignorance , wherein it hath pleased Thee to place that species to which I belong . Since I cannot distinguish real good from evil , and am even ignorant of what things are most proper for meI dare not presume-to make any particular request to
, Thee . All I have the confidence to do , is thus to prostrate myself before Thee ; to acknowledge thy power , admire thy wisdom , and most cheerfully submit myself to thy Almighty will , whatever it be , O Great Jehovah I